The Noise Was Drowning Out Our Voices
by goodmorningvietnam666
Summary: Stiles talks too much, but this time he thinks he may have talked just enough...


The bell sounded with its metallic droll and students flooded out of the many doors of the building, babbling and shouting excitedly as they pushed past other students just as eager to get out of class. Stiles and Scott just went with the amassed tidal wave and tried not to be crushed as they talked animatedly, smiles on their faces as they planned the future weekend. Stiles looked out to the parking lot, spotting his jeep and then his friends bike… thing…

Then he saw the Camaro.

How he hadn't seen it first was so beyond him because that car was _beautiful_ and when he caught sight of it he tapped his friend on the shoulder and pointed towards the car.

The smile on his friend's face faded and Stiles instantly felt just a little guilty at pointing out what probably was trouble.

So he decided to do what any good best friend would do: deal with the problem.

He half jogged down the front steps, weaving through students as he went, and stooped down considerably to lean on the open window of the Camaro, repressing a smile when Derek Hale looked right at him with this _grin_ and Derek never grinned.

"Is it the alphas again?" he asked slowly, hoping with everything he had that he wouldn't get a serious nod in response.

"No, it's nothing life threatening… it's an invitation" Derek answered with a smirk "Not everything around me involves threats from supernatural creatures you know"

Stiles nodded only slightly "I'm not really sure that Scott's about to talk to you, let alone go for a cross country drive"

"Stiles" Derek interrupted his chain of thought with another grin "The invitation is for you"

"Wh- What?" No, really, what? They weren't friends, at least Stiles was convinced of that, but maybe Derek had different ideas about them now that they'd practically nearly died together.

There had been an incident with another wolf pack, and without thinking Stiles had thrown himself at the problem against Scott's clearly better alpha judgement and had literally nearly died. Thankfully he had Derek, who had shared his wish to deal with the problem quickly, and together they had saved each other's asses, receiving a thorough chewing out from seventy per cent of the pack: even Peter had been involved and that meant they had been _really _stupid.

"Get in, I promise I don't have any menacing plans" Derek assured with a smile.

Stiles turned away from him and back to Scott, who was busying himself trying not to look like he was eavesdropping: which he was.

A long sigh left Stiles as he nodded quickly and pulled open the door of the Camaro, getting in and taking in the shiny dash and black interior of the already black car as well as the smell of pine and dirt that Derek so often carried around with him.

"Okay, I'm in… and slightly nervous, no, wait, very nervous" he said slowly, hating the fact that Scott was grinning at him with a thumbs-up as he walked over to his bike.

Smug little bastard.

He did, however, love the way the Camaro drove: he'd always love his Jeep, she was after all his girl, but the Camaro was like a stone in a slingshot and it was beautiful.

It helped that Derek drove his car like he was in the middle of a street race.

"So… I feel extremely shady right now… where are we going?" Stiles broke the almost silence between them and turned to Derek to watch his reaction.

Derek simply shrugged and said "Where ever"

Well if that wasn't just the most dissatisfying thing he'd heard all day.

"I really don't get you" Stiles admitted "You save my life, don't talk to me for a week and then you decide to take me for a drive"

Derek nodded his agreement "I'd blame Cora but that would be futile, I've been thinking over things… and apparently those things took me a week to think about… I'm sorry I was so…"

"You?" Stiles prompted, grinning when he got a growl from Derek in response "No, sorry, that's wrong… you've changed and it's probably not fair to treat you like you haven't"

They were silent once more and Stiles looked outside his window and at the landscape on the side of the road. Eventually Derek turned into a back road and along gravel which crunched beneath the Camaro's wheels, they passed large paddocks and then the grass began to turn paler and sparse as they came towards the shore line of California.

Derek pulled the car to a stop and got out with a quick look at Stiles which claimed he should follow. Once he stepped out he walked only a few steps before waiting. Stiles took the hint and got out of the car, almost being blown over by the force of the head wind he received as he stood straight. It was freezing now, the day still shone on but the gentle wind in Beacon Hills had obviously been from the beachfront's own wind: which was threatening to push him over.

He caught up to Derek, who looked to him with a smile and then, of all things, held out his hand.

A strange noise of confusion and happiness left Stiles' mouth and he went along with Derek, being led up one of the many tall dunes on the ragtag beach, watching as Derek seemed to just naturally reject the wind, like some kind of stone guardian. Stiles just held tight to his hand for threat of being blown away.

Their hike didn't end for another twenty minutes or so, and Stiles could barely see the Camaro anymore, and when Derek stopped he almost ran into him. They were atop a large hill that overlooked both the beach and the ocean, and only then did Derek drop Stiles hand.

It was freezing up high, and Stiles wished he had brought a jacket, but after a quick debate he sidled up to Derek and stood next to him with his own arms folded across his chest. Derek hadn't said a word, and his eyes were trained on the horizon, his entire stance read something that Stiles wasn't sure how to name… calm maybe, or tired: he wasn't sure yet.

"My mother used to drive me out to places like this" Derek uttered after moments of loud silence "She'd talk about things that didn't seem important then… lessons on leadership, control… love" he paused for a moment, eyes sliding over to Stiles as though to check he were listening, but there was a fondness to it that displayed something else: another thing Stiles didn't know how to name. "It was never the same place… I liked it, just me and my mother talking… It seemed like she knew the fire would happen towards the end… I knew somehow that she was preparing for something, she seemed so terse in those last few weeks…"

"Do you think she really knew?" Stiles asked slowly, tentatively: Derek _never_ talked about his family: most frequently never about his mother or Laura.

Derek gave Stiles a half smile "How could she? She knew a lot but I don't think she was a prophet... and if she knew then we would have left… The thing was… it was only ever me and I have no idea why"

"So you're asking me?" Stiles asked, unsure and still wary.

"No… I'm just telling you for the sake of it… someone needs to know these things" Derek stated and then sat down on the sand and grass beneath him, tugging Stiles down with him.

"Thanks" Stiles said softly, leaning against Derek's arm "I'm glad you trust me"

"Me too" Derek replied, eyes once again trained on the horizon "Sometimes we'd spend a whole day away from our family, and she'd talk about what I found boring: mom stuff… I loved it though: her voice was calming, Peter tells me it's the quality of a good leader but I think he might be acting a little conceited"

Stiles snorted "He is the _epitome_ of conceited"

Derek chuckled "You're right about that…"

Derek fell silent then, and breathed in deeply, holding it for a moment before sighing quietly. Stiles tried to remain as silent as possible, hoping that he wouldn't break the moment between himself and Derek that seemed so fragile and yet almost tangible that made him afraid to touch, just as he was afraid to reach out to Derek in the very same way.

Maybe silence wasn't what Derek needed right now…

"My mom was always up front with me and my dad… she'd always tell us exactly what she thought about things, so when I had problems or issues or just wanted answers I'd go to her" Stiles paused to let a breathy laugh pass his lips "When I asked her where I came from she just straight out told me: dad threw a fit… she'd always say that 'the nature of the human heart is to love, not to hate' and I used to think it was so original until I realised she had adapted it from Nelson Mandela… but, yeah… that was my mom" he ended by lifting his hands into the air and then letting them fall back down hopelessly, trying extremely hard not to let the weight of his grief fall down on him again.

Derek nodded beside him and took Stiles' hand gently "You don't really think about them in so much detail until they're gone..."

"No" Stiles admitted "You don't" and then he added "We should do this more… talk" he clarified when Derek looked at him in this strange way that Stiles couldn't put a name on.

"Probably… though you'd do too much of it while I'd say nothing at all" Derek said with a slowly growing smile, which turned to a grin when Stiles laughed

"Yeah… You're right… but still, we should stick together… right?" he said all of this tentatively, nervously, afraid and yet brave, sure and yet scared.

Derek nodded and squeezed Stiles' hand gently "Definitely"


End file.
